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Afghan Borders Concern NATO Force Leader

KABUL, Afghanistan — As the new commander of NATO forces in Afghanistan expressed fresh concern over rising activity by militants in Pakistan’s tribal areas, two powerful suicide bombs killed two people and wounded several others near the Pakistani border on Wednesday.

One car bombing occurred in the eastern Afghan province of Khost and demolished a government office, killing an official and wounding eight civilians visiting the building.

The second appeared to be aimed at a Canadian military convoy in the southern province of Kandahar near the border town of Spin Boldak. Two children were wounded, one of whom later died, according to a local border official, Abdul Razzaq.

The bombings unfolded a day after an American general, David D. McKiernan, assumed command of some 52,000 NATO troops in the country.

At a news briefing in Kabul, General McKiernan said he shared the concerns of his predecessor, Gen. Dan K. McNeill, who is also an American, about rising militancy emanating from Pakistan’s tribal areas bordering Afghanistan. He said he would be taking up the issue with Pakistan.

“First, I share General McNeill’s concerns that the ungoverned area in the FATA potentially creates a sanctuary for people with bad intentions, bad intention for both Pakistan and Afghanistan,” he said, using the acronym for Pakistan’s Federally Administered Tribal Areas.

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“I personally intend to develop a close relationship with Pakistani counterparts so we can work issues of security on the border,” he added.

He said one of his first trips as commander would be to meet with the Pakistani Army’s chief of staff, Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, to try to resurrect a commission created by NATO and the Afghan and Pakistani militaries to address border issues. In recent months, Pakistan has not taken part in the commission.

Shortly before General McNeill handed over command, he raised concerns about Pakistan’s commitment to curbing militancy on its side of the border. Cross-border attacks from Pakistan have increased sharply since the Pakistani government entered into peace agreements with militants in Pakistan, he said.

General McKiernan said he would hold a “two-part conversation” with General Kayani.

“One part of it is what can be done to assist the government of Pakistan dealing with the problem that is also a Pakistani problem,” he said. “But the second part of the discussion needs to be, how do we exert more control of the border?”

He said one challenge would be to make sure that “the wrong people and items” are not moving back and forth across the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan.